Bruce Pearl proud of Auburn’s non-conference performance: ‘We’re in position to be in position’

Auburn hoops arrives at SEC play in sterling position with an 11-2 record and four victories over other power conference schools, which Bruce Pearl believes is a good thing not just for his team, but for the conference.

Starting with his own team, after the game, Coach Pearl discussed the terrific standing Auburn enters the new year with, especially when it comes to analytic models.

“We’re playing well right now, so that’s a very positive thing heading in. We finish up our non-conference schedule, 11-2, and the math as far as our KenPom (ranking) and things along those lines, we’re in position to be in position,” said Pearl after the latest win over Penn.

When it comes to math and KenPom rating, what exactly does “being in position” look like? Well, we know the analytical makeup of the typical championship team, since seven of the eight national champions finished as both a top-20 offense and top-20 defense in KenPom (’21 Baylor was No. 22 in defense). Teams like ’23 UConn and ’18 Virginia were even top 10 in both. But overwhelmingly, you have to be a great unit on both ends of the court.

Heading into league play, the Tigers already have a decent little resume built out just in terms of who they’ve won and lost against. But looking into their KenPom breakdown, Auburn currently possesses the No. 15 offense and the No. 20 defense. With their 11-2 resume plus those top-20 marks on both sides of the ball, yes, Auburn is “in position” to be a player in March.

Pearl then pivoted to discuss the program’s great success in then non-conference recently and why it’s important for the SEC as a whole that the Tigers and others score strong performances outside the league.

“Over the last seven years, we’ve had the best non-conference winning percentage in the SEC. That matters to me because we wanted to raise the credibility of Auburn Basketball. The math matters, so if you’re in our league and you’re a bad number, then you bring the whole league down, you just bring them down,” explained the Auburn head coach.

“If you have a chance during league play and you have a bad number, and you beat someone a couple of times, you knock them out of the tournament. I didn’t want Auburn to be that, and it had been that way for a long time, so I’m very pleased that this team continued to add to the history.”

The SEC has actually taken a bit of a beating in the non-conference, losing out in many of the conference’s marquee matchups outside the league. Auburn even suffered a loss to Appalachian State. However, the Tigers still managed to build the best non-conference resume in the league, maybe alongside Kentucky. Bruce Pearl’s group mostly took care of business for the sake of the conference these first couple months of the season.